CHAPTER-6

FINDINGS, SUGGESTIONS,

RECOMMENDATIONS, MANAGERIAL

IMPLICATIONS, SCOPE FOR FUTURE

RESEARCH AND CONCLUSION

Findings of the Study

Suggestions of the Study

Recommendations of the Study

Managerial Implications of the Study

Scope for Further Research

Conclusion of the Study

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CHAPTER – 6

FINDINGS, SUGGESTIONS, RECOMMENDATIONS,

MANAGERIAL IMPLICATIONS, SCOPE FOR FUTURE

RESEARCH AND CONCLUSION

INTRODUCTION: This chapter is derived to present (i) Findings of the study (ii) Suggestions of the

study(iii) Recommendations of the study (iv) Managerial Implications of the Study (v)

Scope for Future Research and (vi) Conclusion of the study. The evaluation of the result

obtained after the analysis of data is discussed in this section.

6.1. FINDINGS OF THE STUDY:

The results are evaluated vis-à-vis the objectives have been justified with the support of

data. Therefore the objectives of the study are highlighted once again before the

discussion of the results. This study has one main objective and nine sub objectives

comprising of:

MAIN OBJECTIVE:

To study the Rural Marketing Strategies of selected H.U.L. products and its

influence on buying behaviour of the selected rural respondents from rural market

in Gujarat State.

Rural marketing strategies are comprises of various thoughtful planning and activities

and the bunch of all those are known as strategies. Mainly in marketing, 4P’s are

considered as marketing mix. The combination of various P’s namely Product, Price,

Place and Promotion are being implemented effectively to get success in to market. In

the rural areas there are 4A’s as like 4P’s, namely Availability, Awareness, Affordability

and Acceptability. So all the company needs to consider the 4A’s and design their

strategies accordingly to get more success specifically in rural market.

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The main objective is to study the Rural Marketing Strategies being implemented by

H.U.L. for the selected products category and selected products among that category in

the selected areas of Gujarat state. To study this objective in detail it has been divided in

to the sub objectives and the combine result of that sub objectives supports the main

objective of the study.

The one of the sub objective has been designed to know the awareness level of selected

H.U.L. products in to selected areas of Gujarat state, which is an important parameter to

measure the effectiveness and study concludes that, for selected tea of H.U.L., that is

Taaza and Taj Mahal have only awareness level of 75 percent of rural respondents, while

in other all selected eight products the awareness level is almost 95 percent. So it can be

said that company has achieved satisfactory awareness level in the selected rural areas of

Gujarat state.

In the other sub objective an attempt has been made to identify, the factors which plays

an important role while making buying decision towards selected H.U.L. products, and It

can be concluded from the collected data of selected rural respondents that, majority of

respondents give first priority to the good quality of products and almost similar

importance has been given to the low price of the products, so rural respondents are

looking for good quality of products in low price. With this they do give importance to

the some of the factors like easily availability of the products, discounted price and in

some products fragrance and colour variations in the products. While there are such

factors which are being least considered by the selected rural respondents those are brand

loyalty, brand ambassador, advertisement and seasonal effect associated with the

selected H.U.L. products, while making purchase decision. So it clearly indicates that

the product strategy form the H.U.L. is being well accepted and people are using H.U.L.

products because of above mentioned reasons.

Same way attempt has been made to identify the reason for switchover from the selected

H.U.L. brands to some other brands, are almost alike the reasons for purchasing H.U.L.

products. As rural respondents are more price conscious, they give first preference to the

low price product, and if they found the low price with good quality they will switchover

the brand. With price they also give importance to the availability of the product at their

buying place and discount price to making buying decision.

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The effectiveness of the marketing strategy can also be measured by the satisfaction

level of rural consumers. So the same has been analysed with the help of collected data

and it can be said that the majority of the rural respondents are quite satisfy with the

products and overall product attributes.

The other important aspect of marketing strategy is the price of the product, the collected

data says that, rural consumers are more price savvy compare to brand name and quality

of the product. They give first preference to the price of the product and with this they

are looking for good quality of product. So customer prefers the H.U.L. products because

of in some cases it is low price and good quality product.

The other important factor of marketing strategy is promotion of the products.

Specifically in the case of selected H.U.L. products in selected rural areas of Gujarat

state, rural respondents are price conscious and so in rural areas, the most preferred

promotional activity for the selected H.U.L. brands is price discounts on MRP of the

product. Rural respondents prefer to purchase the branded products but with this they

give equal importance to the price of the products, so they are looking for price discount.

While very few rural respondents prefers the extra quantity in the same price as a part of

promotional activity.

The last but not least, the important factor of the rural marketing strategies is availability

of the product at the regular buying places of rural consumers. The collected data says

that, in case of selected H.U.L. products, in majority of selected product the availability

is almost 95%. As par the collected data, the lowest availability among selected H.U.L.

product is tea and its availability is also 77%. It means that the selected H.U.L. products

have satisfactory presence in the selected rural areas of Gujarat state.

So, overall it can be said that, the rural marketing strategies being implemented by the

H.U.L. for selected products and in the selected rural areas are quite satisfactory, their

strategy helps them to achieve the results like good awareness level of H.U.L. products,

good acceptance level of selected H.U.L. products by customers, satisfy customers,

makes the products available at majority of places, respondents are happy with the

pricing of the product and they are also happy with the promotional activity being offer

by the H.U.L. , for the selected products in selected rural areas of Gujarat State.

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Sub Objective 1:

To assess consumer awareness for H.U.L. products in selected rural areas of

Gujarat State.

There has been noticeable change in the rural consumer’s inclination towards branded

F.M.C.G. products. Also there has been shift in acceptance level, from low priced

F.M.C.G. products to medium and high price F.M.C.G. products. Majority of

respondents found aware about the availability of selected F.M.C.G. products. Rural

consumers generally prefer to buy the products, which are easily available at their

regular buying places. In case of brand awareness level of the rural consumers, it has

been found that they were aware of the leading brands in case of F.M.C.G. products.

From the collected data, table- 5.4 it has been observed that, out of ten selected H.U.L.

products, in eight products, respondent’s awareness level towards that selected products

is 95%. Only in case of selected Tea from H.U.L. namely Taaza and Taj Mahal, the

awareness level of selected rural respondents is near to 75%. So it can be said that there

is ample of awareness towards selected H.U.L. brands in selected rural areas of Gujarat

state.

From the table 5.20 to 5.29,which represent cross tabulation output between awareness

of selected H.U.L. products versus it is always difficult to differentiate between spurious

products and branded products, findings of the tables represents that majority 652

respondents are agree with the difficulty of differentiation between spurious and branded

products. It can be commonly concluded that as mentioned above majority of rural

respondents are aware about selected H.U.L. products, though majority of them facing

the problem of brand differentiate.

From the Hypothesis H8 and with the help of chi-square test it has been observed that

only in case of clinic hair shampoo the null hypothesis has been accepted, it means that

there is no relationship between awareness and availability of clinic hair shampoo. While

in rest of all selected H.U.L. products hypothesis has been rejected. It means that, there

is a significance relationship between awareness and availability between selected

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H.U.L. products. So it can be concluded that more awareness of the products leads to

more availability of the products.

So form the above it can be concluded that, for selected tea of H.U.L., that is Taaza and

Taj Mahal have only awareness level of 75 percent among rural respondents, while in

other all selected eight products the awareness level is almost 95 percent. So it can be

said that company has achieved satisfactory awareness level in the selected rural areas of

Gujarat state.

Sub Objective 2:

To examine the factors responsible for increasing competitiveness among F.M.C.G.

manufacturers for entry into the rural market segment of Gujarat State.

Rural Culture is comprises of shared values, beliefs and perceptions that persuade the

behaviour of rural consumers. There are different groups based on qualification,

occupation, monthly income, size of family and standard of living, and each group exerts

influence on the buying behaviour of rural people in villages.

The first factor which plays an important role to increase competitiveness among

F.M.C.G. brands is increasing literacy ratio of rural people. Table 5.1 represents the

qualification level of rural respondents. Out of 1000 selected rural respondents, only 100

(10%) respondents had not gone to school. It means that 90% of the rural respondents

are qualified respondents. Generally it is said that, more the literacy level leads to more

awareness of the products. It has been also seen from the Annexure-1; Hypothesis-1,

there is a significant relation between qualification and awareness of selected H.U.L.

products. Only in the case of Closeup and Pepsodent toothpaste, the null hypothesis has

been accepted. So in general it can be said that the increasing level of literacy among

rural people leads to more awareness about the market scenario and make them aware

about the options available in the market, and this leads to the competitiveness for

F.M.C.G. brands.

The second factor which plays an important role to increase competitiveness among

various F.M.C.G. brands is increasing monthly income of rural people. Table 5.1

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represents the various slab of monthly income of family of selected rural respondents. It

indicates that majority 301(30.1%) respondents have monthly earning of more than

rupees 10,000 and above. While only 27 (2.7%) respondents have monthly income

between zero to 2,000.With reference to the correlation Analysis Table – 5.35, it shows

that there is a moderate relationship between monthly income and monthly budget

allocation for selected F.M.C.G. products. So from the collected data it can be said that

more the income more the purchasing power. Hence it provides more options to rural

people while making purchase decision, and it increases competitiveness for different

F.M.C.G. brands.

The third important factor which plays an important role to increase competitiveness

among various F.M.C.G. brands is awareness about different F.M.C.G. brands available

in rural areas. The same has been already justified in sub objective no. 1. So in general it

can be concluded that more the awareness of the different available products in the

market more the competition faced by available brands.

Fourth important factor which leads to increase competitiveness among various

F.M.C.G. brands is main source of information. From the table number 5.6, it can be said

that almost 95% of respondents using television as main source of information for

different selected H.U.L. brands. It also strongly indicates that, the rural respondents

who uses television as their main source of information would be definitely getting

knowledge of other brands from the same source. So it can be said that television plays

an important role to increase competitiveness among different F.M.C.G. products.

Another important factor which leads to increase competitiveness among various

F.M.C.G. brands is available variety of size of products in to the rural market. According

to table 5.31, rural respondents gives more preference to the variety of the size of

products available in the market, which has been represented as mean value of 3.95 out

of 5 in the table.

Another important factor which leads to increase competitiveness among various

F.M.C.G. brands is price of products in to the rural market. According to table 5.31, rural

respondents give more preference to the price compare to, which has been represented as

mean value of 3.90 out of 5 in the table.

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Another important factor which leads to increase competitiveness among various

F.M.C.G. brands is easily availability of products in to the rural market. According to

table 5.31, rural respondents give more preference to the easily availability of F.M.C.G.

products while making buying decision. This has been represented as mean value of 3.88

out of 5 in the table.

Sub Objective 3:

To study the impact of various factors affecting the rural consumer buying

behaviour, towards selected H.U.L. products in rural areas of Gujarat State.

Rural consumers are not only looking for cheap products but they are seeking value for

money, and if a brand fits into this category, they are ready to pay for it. Also when they

can afford, they would prefer experiment with the brands. They show their willingness to

try other brands too, if they found more benefits associated with the product in the

nearby price. Consumer behaviour is often based on perception rather than reality. Most

rural residents want to shop locally, but there is a perception that prices charged by rural

shop keeper are higher and there is a lack of variety in selection and availability in

selected rural areas.

As per table -5.11, respondents were asked to give their opinion towards the products

attributes which plays an important role in their buying behaviour. Out of fifteen

products attributes, most preferred important factor of rural respondent in case of Lux /

Lifebuoy is the good quality of the product. Almost 92% respondents give first

preference to the good quality for toilet soap. The second most preferred attribute in case

of toilet soap is low price of the product, in this category of toilet soap 85.15%

respondents give their preference to the low price association with the product. The other

important factor from the perspective of rural respondent in case of toilet soap is variety

of size of the product and easily availability of the toilet soap at their buying place.

Fragrance of toilet soap is also playing important role in case of rural buying behaviour,

as per the data 42.58% of respondents give importance to the fragrance of toilet soap

while making purchase decision.

In case of selected H.U.L. detergent soap, namely Rin / Wheel, respondents give first

preference to the good quality of detergent soap, from the collected data as per table -

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5.11, majority 89.75% respondents have given their preference to the good quality of the

detergent soap. The second factor which plays an important role while making purchase

decision is the low price association with the detergent soap. In case of detergent soap

rural respondents gives almost equal preference to the variety of size of products and

easily availability of product while making purchase decision. Another important factor

while making purchase decision is price discount available on product.

In case of selected H.U.L. tooth paste, namely Pepsodent / Closeup, customer give first

preference to the good quality of tooth paste, from the collected data as per table -5.11,

majority 87.62% respondents have given their preference to the good quality of the tooth

paste. Another important factor is low price of the tooth paste, 79.75% respondents have

given their preference to the low price of the product while making purchase decision. In

case of selected toothpaste almost47% respondents have given their preference to easy

availability of product at their regular buying place and various size of product. Other

important factor in case of selected tooth paste is discounted price of tooth paste and

variety of flavours available in tooth paste. Few of the respondents do give importance to

the availability of colours in tooth paste.

In case of selected H.U.L. hair shampoo, namely Clinic/ Sunsilk, from the collected data

as per table -5.11, the first important factor is good quality of product. Next important

factor that rural respondents consider is low price associated with shampoo. Almost 46%

respondents have equally given preference to the easily availability of the product and

variety of size available in shampoo while making purchase decision.39.38%

respondents gave importance to fragrance of the shampoo and few of respondents give

importance to the price discount while making purchase decision.

In case of selected H.U.L. tea, namely Taaza/ Taj Mahal, with reference to table 5.11, it

can be said that 81.27% rural respondents give first preference to the good quality of tea.

Another important factor is low price of product. Rural respondents do give importance

to the easily availability of the products and fragrance of tea, while making purchase

decision.

It can be concluded from the collected data of selected rural respondents that, majority of

respondents give first priority to the good quality of products and almost similar

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importance has been given to the low price of the products, so rural respondents are

looking for good quality of products in low price. With this they do give importance to

the some of the factors like easily availability of the products, discounted price and in

some products fragrance and colour variations in the products. While there are such

factors which are being least consider by the selected rural respondents were brand

loyalty, brand ambassador, advertisement and seasonal effect associated with the

selected H.U.L. products, while making purchase decision.

Sub Objective 4:

To study the satisfaction level associated with selected H.U.L. products in rural

areas of Gujarat state.

Product expectations in rural consumer are not so high, therefore a product with basic

requisite with reasonable price is being preferred by the rural people compare to high

price products. Now a day’s literacy level is increasing in rural area but still there is a

presence of illiteracy among them. So they identify a product by its packaging, colour,

visuals, size etc.

As par table 5.7, almost 90% of rural respondents were satisfied with selected toilet soap,

detergent soap, tooth paste and hair shampoo of H.U.L., while almost 67% rural

respondents are satisfied with tea of H.U.L.. So it can be said that there is a satisfactory

awareness of selected products of H.U.L. in selected areas of Gujarat.

The significant relationship between the satisfaction level with product and brand loyalty

has been tested by Hypothesis H9 and with the help of Chi-Square test which shows the

rejection of null hypothesis. It means that there is significance association between

satisfaction level with product and brand loyalty towards the product.

As per the correlation analysis, Table – 5.36, it can be said that there is a weak negative

correlation between price of the product and satisfaction level associated with it. Means

that price reduction has very less impact on satisfaction level increment in case of

selected H.U.L. products.

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So it can be concluded that, in the selected rural areas of Gujarat state, majority of the

rural respondents are satisfied with the selected H.U.L. products.

Sub Objective 5:

To study the impact of pricing factor for selected F.M.C.G. products of H.U.L. in

rural areas of Gujarat State.

Penetration or low price is preferred marketing strategy to get entry into the rural market

and product can establish a strong hold on the market share. By the time this strategy

creates difficulties for the future entry of rival’s products. A higher price generates

resistance to sales. For every paisa increase in price, the rural customer asks more and

more justifications for it. In general, moderately priced and low price brands do well in

rural market.

As shown in the table 5.11, it can be said that, for all the selected H.U.L. products, the

rural respondents consider second most importance factor to the price of the product,

except good quality of product all other factors comes afterwards.

The same importance of price factor has been also checked by chi-square test between

two variables that are total monthly income and preference given to the price of the

product, by the Hypothesis H3 and with the help of Chi-Square test, it can be conclude

that there is significance association between monthly income and preference given to

the variety of size the products. The significant association between two attributes

indicates that, though there are variations in income of the rural respondents but those

selected respondent’s gives preference to the variety in size and variety of size indicates

the variety in price in the selected areas of Gujarat. The same has been also calculated

with the help of cross tabulation , table – 5.13, from the table it can be said that out of

1000 rural respondents 796 (79.6%) of rural respondents gives more preference to the

price of the product compare to the brand name and quality of the product.

According to table 5.31, rural respondents give more preference to the price compare to

brand name and quality of the product. This has been represented as mean value of 3.90

out of 5 in the table.

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According to correlation Analysis Table – 5.36, it is clearly seen that there is a there is

weak negative correlation between importance to the price factor and satisfaction level

associated with selected H.U.L. products. It also indicates the existence of significant

relationship between two variables except toilet soap.

So from above all, it can be concluded that price factor plays an important role in rural

respondents buying behaviour and F.M.C.G. brands manufacturer / agencies needs to

give due consideration while designing their marketing strategies for rural respondents.

Sub Objective 6:

To study the present promotion strategies for selected F.M.C.G. products of H.U.L.

in selected rural areas of Gujarat State.

Over the years, the attitude and standard of living of rural people has been changed due

revelation through television and exposure through a move up in literacy level and urban

proximity. Reach of media is a strong reason for the penetration of essential

commodities in to the rural areas. Increasing awareness and knowledge on different

products and brands step up the demand. The word of mouth is an important way of

communication in rural areas. Infect the opinion leaders are the most influencing part of

promotion strategy of rural promotion efforts.

From the table-5.10, it can be said that almost 70% of rural respondents prefers

discounted price, as a favourite promotional scheme on the selected F.M.C.G. products.

While 17% of rural respondents prefers extra quantity with the same price as a favourite

promotional activity on selected F.M.C.G. products. And nearby only 2% of respondents

prefers the attractive packaging as a part of the promotional activity for their selected

H.U.L. products.

Product advertisement which leads to awareness of the product and enhance the product

knowledge is also important factor being considered by the selected rural respondents,

and the same has been represented with the mean value of 3.78 out of 5 in table number-

5.31.The effect of advertisement has been also tested by the chi- square test by the

hypothesis – H2. Where the significant relations between the enhancement of product

knowledge by the advertisement and advertisement always creates always interest for the

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product has been checked and can be concluded that there is significant relationship

between the two selected variables.

So it can be concluded that, rural respondents are price conscious and so in rural areas

the most preferred promotional activity for the selected H.U.L. brands is price discounts

on MRP. Rural respondents prefer to purchase the branded products but with this they

give equal importance to the price of the product, so they are looking for price discount.

While very few rural respondents prefers the extra quantity in the same price as a part of

promotional activity.

Sub Objective 7:

To analyse the factors responsible for switch over from the H.U.L. products by the

customers in the rural areas of Gujarat State.

Rural consumer’s literacy ratio is increasing day by day, which leads to the improvement

in the knowledge and general awareness about the present market scenario. As well in

the majority of cases, the main source of information for the F.M.C.G. products have

been shifted to the television. Due to television they become aware of recent products

available in the market and which leads to comparison between different products of

different competitors.

As per table -5.12, respondents were asked to give their opinion towards the products

attributes which plays an important role in switch over from the selected H.U.L.

products. Out of fifteen products attributes, most preferred important factor for switch

over among rural respondent in case of Lux / Lifebuoy is the low price of the product.

Almost 86% respondents has given first preference to the low price in case of toilet soap.

The second most preferred attribute in case of toilet soap is choice of good quality of the

product, in this category of toilet soap 84% respondents have given their preference to

availability of the good quality products in the market for switch over. Another

important factor from the perspective of rural respondent in case of toilet soap for switch

over is discount on the product and easily availability of the toilet soap at their buying

place.

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In case of selected H.U.L. detergent soap, namely Rin / Wheel, respondents give first

preference to the low price of detergent soap, from the collected data as per table -5.12,

majority i.e. 86% respondents have given their preference to the low price of the

detergent soap. The second factor which plays an important role while making switch

over decision is the availability of good quality of detergent soap. In case of detergent

soap rural respondents gives importance to easily availability of product and price

discount available on product while making switch over decision.

In case of selected H.U.L. tooth paste, namely Pepsodent / Closeup, respondents gives

first preference to the low price of tooth paste, from the collected data as per table -5.12,

majority i.e. 86% respondents giving their preference to the low price of the tooth paste.

Another important factor is choice of good quality of the tooth paste, 80.32%

respondents have given their preference to the good quality of the product while making

switchover decision. In case of selected tooth paste almost 36% respondents have given

their preference to easy availability of product at their regular buying place and other

important factor in case of selected tooth paste is discounted price of tooth paste, while

making switchover decision.

In case of selected H.U.L. hair shampoo, namely Clinic/ Sunsilk, from the collected data

as per table -5.12, the first important factor for switch over is low price of product. Next

important factor that rural respondents consider is good quality of shampoo. Almost 34%

respondents have given their preference to the easily availability of the product and few

respondents gave importance to the price discount while planning to switch over the

selected H.U.L. brand.

In case of selected H.U.L. tea, namely Taaza/ Taj Mahal, with reference to table 5.12, it

can be said that 80% rural respondents have given their first preference to the good

quality of tea. Another important factor is low price of product. Rural respondents also

give importance to the easily availability of the products while making switch over

decision in case of selected H.U.L. tea.

It can be concluded from the collected data of selected rural respondents that, majority of

respondents have given first priority to the low price of products and almost similar

importance has been given to the good quality of the products, so rural respondents are

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looking for good quality of products in low price while thinking for switch over selected

H.U.L. products. With this they also give importance to the some of the factors like

easily availability of the products, discounted price of the products. While there are such

factors which are being least consider by the selected rural respondents are brand loyalty,

brand ambassador, advertisement and seasonal effect associated with the selected H.U.L.

products, while making switch over decision.

Sub Objective8:

To study the present Distribution strategies of H.U.L. for selected F.M.C.G.

products in rural market of Gujarat State.

A good distribution system means that the company has a greater chance of selling its

products as compared to competitors. A company that can make its product available

over wide areas and at lower cost as compared to its competitors will leads to success of

capturing larger market share. In rural India, the major road-blocks related to distribution

and channel management are identified as; Lack of retail infrastructure, Lack of proper

warehousing facility, Transportation problem, Large and scattered market, etc.

From the table-5.8, it can be said that among the selected H.U.L. products in case of

toilet soap, detergent soap, tooth paste and hair shampoo has the availability ratio of

almost 95%, it means that the above said products are most of the times available in the

selected rural areas. While in case of selected tea the availability frequency is 77%, it

means that the availability of selected tea may not be there at all the time and at all

regular buying places in the selected rural areas.

As par the correlation analysis as shown in the Table – 5.34, the correlation analysis

between two variables, which are the availability of the product and income of the

respondents. The result indicates that, there is almost low positive correlation between

two variables, but there is a presence of significant association between two variables.

So it can be concluded that, in case of selected H.U.L. products, in majority of selected

product the availability is almost 95%. As par the collected data the lowest availability of

selected H.U.L. tea is also 77%. It means that the selected H.U.L. products have

satisfactory presence in the selected rural areas of Gujarat state.

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Sub Objective9:

To study the present scenario of H.U.L. in rural marketing in Gujarat State (With

a selected products and geographical area).

There has been visible change in the rural consumer’s opinion towards branded

F.M.C.G. products. Also with increasing literacy level and disposable income, there has

been shift in acceptance level of different branded F.M.C.G. products available in the

market, where rural respondents are found mainly price conscious.

The present scenario of selected H.U.L. products in selected rural areas of Gujarat state

is quite satisfactory, it can be concluded from the collected data that, there is a good

awareness about selected H.U.L. products in selected rural areas of Gujarat state. As par

table 5.4, almost 95% of rural respondents are aware about toilet soap, detergent soap,

tooth paste and hair shampoo of H.U.L., while almost 75% rural respondents are aware

about tea of H.U.L.. So it can be said that there is a satisfactory awareness of selected

products of H.U.L. in selected areas of Gujarat.

As per the table 5.5, it represents the actual users of selected H.U.L. products in the

selected rural areas of Gujarat state. According to data, in case of toilet soap, 97%

respondents have used H.U.L. toilet soap, 94.6% respondents have used H.U.L.

detergent, 86.4% rural respondents have used H.U.L. tooth paste and 89.9% rural

respondents have used H.U.L. hair shampoo. While near to 58% respondents have used

H.U.L. tea. So it can be concluded that majority of the selected rural respondents have

used selected H.U.L. products except selected tea.

In terms of satisfaction level with selected H.U.L. products shows that satisfactory result.

As par table 5.7, almost 90% of rural respondents are satisfied with selected toilet soap,

detergent soap, tooth paste and hair shampoo of H.U.L., while almost 67% rural

respondents are satisfied with tea of H.U.L.. So it can be said that there is a satisfactory

awareness of selected products of H.U.L. in selected areas of Gujarat.

With reference to the availability of selected H.U.L. products, the data represents

reasonable availability in selected rural areas. From the table-5.8, it can be said that

among the selected H.U.L. products toilet soap, detergent soap, tooth paste and hair

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shampoo the availability ratio is almost 95%, it means that the above said products are

most of the times available in the selected rural areas. While in case of selected tea the

availability frequency is 77%, it means that the availability of the product does not mean

the presence of selected tea at all the time and at all regular buying places in the selected

rural areas.

The factor which plays an important role in purchasing decision with reference to

selected H.U.L. products are positively associated with it. According to collected data,

majority of respondents give first priority to the good quality of products and almost

similar importance has been given to the low price of the products, so rural respondents

are looking for good quality of products in low price. With this they also give

importance to the some of the factors like easily availability of the products, discounted

price and in some products fragrance and colour variations in the products. It proves that,

selected H.U.L. products have some of the key features as per the rural respondents

requirement, which attracts the rural consumers to buy the selected H.U.L. products to

fulfil the requirements in selected areas of Gujarat state.

So it can be concluded that the present scenario of selected H.U.L. products is quite

satisfactory because majority of the respondents are aware about the selected H.U.L.

products, majority of the respondents are using selecting H.U.L. products, majority of

the rural respondents are satisfied with the H.U.L. products and they do have valid

reason and associate product attributes to purchase selected H.U.L. products compare to

other brands.

6.2 SUGGESTIONS OF THE STUDY:

The suggestions from the study are as mention below:

As per collected data it can be said that, 95% of rural respondents are using

television as their main source of information. So H.U.L. should focus more on

television advertisement.

As per the collected data, table 5.14 of cross tabulation, it can be said that,

almost 65% of rural respondents are saying that, they faced problem of product

differentiation between branded products and spurious product. So company

should consider this point while framing strategy related to products and try to

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give some unique identification with high level of awareness to the products,

which makes them different from other brands and easy to recognize.

It is clearly seen that from table 5.15, advertisement helps to enhance the product

knowledge. So to increases the product awareness, company should focus more

on advertisement. As far as the rural consumers are concern, company should

think about regional language advertisement, which may lead to more awareness

with deep reach in to the rural areas.

As per collected data, it can be said that out of five H.U.L. selected products

categories, except tea other four categories namely; toilet soap, detergent soap,

tooth paste and hair shampoo are being used almost 95% by rural respondents in

selected areas of Gujarat state. While in case of tea about 75% of rural

respondents have used it. So company should more emphasis on increasing

awareness and acceptance level of selected H.U.L. tea in selected rural areas of

Gujarat state.

As per collected data and shown in table (annexure-1), almost 70% of rural

respondents are giving reference to medium size product, while making purchase

decision, specifically in selected rural areas of Gujarat state. So company should

try to focus on designing the products in medium size packaging, which may

fulfill the rural requirements and helps the company to increase their market

share.

It has been observed thorough collected data that, there is an increment in the

family income of the rural respondents. It indicate that it may lead to more

purchasing power so company should understand the requirement of the rural

respondents and make products according to their requirements to get quick

acceptance of the product in the rural area of Gujarat state.

Rural respondents give more preference to the price of the product compare to

the brand name and quality of the product. So companies should frame their

pricing strategy accordingly to attract the majority of rural consumer towards the

product. As per the data collected and with reference to designed hypothesis, it

can be said that, rural respondents satisfaction level is indirectly associated with

price of the products.

As per data collection, rural respondents shows very low brand loyalty towards

selected H.U.L. products. So if rural respondents get an option of low price with

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good quality product, they may switchover the brand. So F.M.C.G. manufacturer

/ Agencies need to consider this point while framing rural marketing strategy and

try to frame such promotional activity which leads them to make at least

repetitive costumer and slowly move them towards the aim of brand loyal

costumer.

There is no doubt that high price products, have high customer involvement and

lead towards the high product satisfaction with brand loyalty. But here H.U.L.

being F.M.C.G. company, it should be ensured that customers have repetitive

purchase which may turn them in loyal customers and to ensure the loyalty, the

blending of 4p’s should be devised considering the specific needs, wants,

perceived performance and various products attributes for the rural consumers.

As per collected data, Annexure -1 Table-3, majority 93% of the rural

respondents give first preference to the price of the products and subsequently

they give importance to quality of products, quantity of products, awareness of

products, and availability of products. They give less importance to credit

facility and opinions by friends and family.

As per the collected data and Annexure -1, Table- 4, total 61.6% of selected rural

respondents have mobile phone connectivity, 50% of respondents owned two

wheeler and 32% of respondents have land ownership. It means that majority of

selected rural respondents have good standard of living and purchasing power.

So company should understand the needs of rural consumers and accordingly

product should be design to get high level of acceptance.

It has been found that majority of rural respondents that is 25.1% are graduates,

and 24.1% of rural respondents have qualification up secondary school. Only

10% of rural respondents have not been to school that means 90% of rural

respondents are literate and so company should design their marketing mix

strategies by considering this factor.

From the collected data table-5.1, it can be said that 40.1% of rural respondents

were found monthly salaried or work on monthly wages system. It means that,

they have fix monthly income and budget allocation for F.M.C.G. products. So

company should design the product accordingly, which best fitted in to the

budget allocation of the rural respondents and fulfill their expectation towards

the products.

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6.3 RECOMMENDATIONS OF THE STUDY:

Today’s consumers are very smart, so business should be carried out in an ethical

ways. Even day by day various laws are being enforced for protecting consumers

rights. Hence company should be transparent enough to provide details about

various products and special campaigns should be launch to make consumers

aware about how to differentiate spurious products and the company should

legally resort to initiate action against those who are involved in it and strict legal

actions should be enforced.

For the betterment and making rural consumer well aware, a separate department

at company level should be created which will take care of the issues and

problems of rural consumers.

Company should think about price differentiate strategy for urban and rural

consumer.

Rural consumers generally prefer to buy those products, where they can have

credit facilities. Specifically in rural areas people are closely known to each

other. So rural consumers would prefer to purchase the products from where they

can avail credit facility. So company should extend their support specifically for

rural shop keepers by providing Credit facility with reasonable rate of interest to

increase the sales of the products in the rural areas.

An attempt should be made to measure the advertisement effectiveness in rural

areas. There is no doubt that, advertisement is meant for creating awareness but

subsequently it should also be ensured that AIDA model is adopted effectively by

the rural consumers.

The haat is very basic and local platform promoted by the rural people and for the

rural people, and which has already gain a good acceptance level by rural

consumers, so company should thinks to take the advantage of the same market

by making their presence available in to the haat culture and make the rural

people feel that the products are made for them only.

As F.M.C.G. products are low price products and their consumption depends on

many factors, so the brand loyalty associated with it is generally low. Hence

company should design their marketing strategies in such a way, where a rural

consumer would like to purchase the product repetitively due to associated

benefit and by the time company get advantage of brand loyalty.

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Rural consumers are influenced by local leaders, hence an attempt should be

made to involve local representative, Opinion leader, etc for promotional activity

of the products to get easy acceptance and faith of word of mouth publicity.

Continuous Research and Development activities should be focused upon to

understand the changing pattern of test and preferences of the products by the

rural customers and according the products should be developed.

F.M.C.G. company may think for local level, state level, regional level, national

level and international level event sponsorship to increase the awareness of the

products.

It has been observed that, as far as consumer adoption process is concerned rural

customers feet in category of late majority. They generally do not try the new

products available in the market on experiment bases. So an attempt should be

made by way of formulating effective strategies that rural consumers turn from

late majority stage to the early majority stage and to increase the acceptance level

towards modified or new products by rural consumers.

6.4 MANAGERIAL IMPLICATION OF THE STUDY:

The collected data says that, the rural consumers are more price conscious, but

with this, they are looking for good quality products too. So now company

should design their marketing strategy where they can offer quality product with

reasonable price.

Company should keep in mind the rural consumer behavior of less brand loyalty

towards F.M.C.G. products, so company should offer their product in such a way

to the rural consumer, so that rural consumer would like to buy the product again

and again and company should by the time get the advantage of brand loyalty.

In the rural area, there is a presence of spurious products, and due to variation in

literacy and product awareness level, this spurious products has got benefits of

getting place in to the regular market. So company has to take action against this

and make the rural people aware about the brand and brand should create some

uniqueness in their product, so one can easily recognized the real brand compare

to the spurious product.

Rural market is untapped market and has huge potential, this fact is known to the

every company / brand in to the market. So they are also putting their hard efforts

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to get the success in the untapped market. Though H.U.L. is having high market

share in some of the product category but their competitors are not so far from

them, while in some category there are local brands that had got the number one

position. So to maintain the market share and to capture the new market company

has to bring some changes in their existing policies time to time.

Company should design their distribution system in such a way that, the product

remains available all time in to the rural areas. Because the rural customer prefers

the products which are easily available.

Company should try to offer small packaging for the products wherever it is

possible, because the rural customers prefer medium size products while making

purchase decision.

Rural consumer prefers price discounts on the product as the best promotional

scheme as per collected data, so company should design their promotional

schemes accordingly to get more acceptances by the rural customers.

6.5SCOPE FOR FUTURE RESEARCH:

The scopes for further research are as mentioned below:

The study has been restricted to the five zones and ten districts of that zone, of

Gujarat state only. So further study can be done by considering more zone and

districts of Gujarat state and may be with regional, state and national level.

The sample size for this research study has been finalized to 1200 respondents.

So further study can be done with more statistical significant sample size.

The study has been restricted to five categories of H.U.L. products and out of

those two products in each category has been selected for this study. So further

study can be done by considering more numbers of categories and products and

even with different brands.

This study is based on multistage sampling comprising of Cluster, Stratified and

Convenience sampling for selected rural areas of Gujarat state. So further study

could be done in a more scientific way with a other appropriate sampling

methods and with a statistically significant sample size.

Future studies could focus on the reasons for not using H.U.L. brands and to

design marketing strategies specifically for H.U.L. non users.

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This study has been restricted to the selection of some developed villages or fast

developing villages. So further study can be done by considering backward and

interior villages.

6.6 CONCLUSION OF THE STUDY: [

The rural marketing strategies for the selected H.U.L. products in the selected areas of

Gujarat state topic has been selected because of the reason that, the rural areas are the

untapped market with high potential. The urban market is now stagnant, so for the

growth of market share, company has to go rural. As H.U.L. is consider as market leader

in F.M.C.G. products, the objective was to verify the same with the actual data

collection, and for that rural areas of Gujarat state has been selected.

For the data collection, multistage sampling comprising of Cluster, Stratified and

Convenience sampling has been used to draw a required sample size for this study. At

the initial stage, rural areas of Gujarat have been clustered in a five zone namely North,

South, East, West and central Gujarat. Out of these five clusters, two districts which is

developing fast and supposed to be developed in near future from each cluster have been

taken into consideration for the study. From each districts, two talukas have been

selected on the basis of population, distance from each other, nearness to the districts and

the fast developing talukas in that districts. From each talukas, three fast developing

villages have been considered for the study and sample size of 1200 has been finalized

after having discussion with the experts of this areas and references of the books.

The questionnaire has 59 questions comprising of three sections namely demographic

profile of the respondents, Likert type 4p’s rural marketing questions and section 3 has

again two parts, consist of H.U.L. users and H.U.L. non users. It was pre tested and on

the bases of the data and experience, the necessary changes have been made. The

reliability test result give the value of Cronbach’s Alpha is 0.694, which is near to 0.7, so

can be considered as good for further analysis of data.

During the data collection 1200 questionnaire was distributed in selected rural areas and

out of that 1049 questionnaire has been received back, and among that 49 were found not

filled properly so discarded and not consider for the further study. So final sample size

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has been considered as 1000, for all further data calculations. The collected data has

been analysed with the help of SPSS software and the data has been analysed with the

help of different statistical techniques, hypothesis has been framed and it was tested with

the help of chi- square test.

On the basis of data analysis, findings of the study has been carried out, suggestions has

been finalized, recommendation has been drawn, managerial implications has been

drawn and scope for the future study has been finalised.

So at the end of the study it can be concluded from the collected data that, the literacy

rate is high in selected areas of Gujarat state, 95% rural respondents have awareness

about H.U.L. brand, majority of the rural respondents are satisfied with the selected

H.U.L. products, they are satisfied with the availability of the selected H.U.L. products

at their regular buying places, they are happy with their product quality and price of the

product. The rural people are mainly price conscious but not so brand loyal, so they may

switch to other brand in case, other brand offer them comparative quality product with

low price, they do not consider the fragrance and taste as important factor while making

purchase decision. As well there is very low effect of brand ambassador on their buying

behaviour but advertisement definitely helps them to increase their product knowledge

and which helps them to differentiate between branded products and spurious products.

Overall it can be concluded that, among five selected product categories except tea, the

performance of H.U.L. products are excellent, in case of H.U.L. tea, it has less market

share and awareness. So company should focus on this point and make the future

strategy. With reference to other selected products H.U.L. needs to change their

strategies time to time to maintain satisfied customers and good position as per the trends

in the market.